Christmas Adventures 2023

December 21-30, 2023 (To Birmingham, Alabama and Beverly Hills, Florida)

Winter break started with an early dismissal on the 21st. The afternoon was warm and sunny, we took a quick trip to Hunting Island. How wonderful it is to live in the Low Country, where a December beach walk only requires a light jacket!

We still had a few errands to run before we headed to see our boys in Alabama. Even though my alarm was off, I was up early enough to see the sunrise. The water was glassy-calm.

Apparently the dolphins were also happy to celebrate Friday. They put on quite a show!

Last year we were moored in Vero Beach at Christmas. We had seen our boys at Thanksgiving and thought we would be okay not being with them at Christmas – but we really, really missed them. There was no doubt that we would all be together for Christmas this year.

Eric and his friend Aida flew into Atlanta, which was on our way to Birmingham. We timed everything well so we could arrive in ATL at approximately the time Eric’s flight was to land.

The flight was a little delayed, which wasn’t terrible. What was terrible was that the delayed flight sat on the tarmac for over an hour, just waiting for an open gate.

Getting some extra time with Eric was worth it, though.

Time with our kids never seems to last long enough.

We spent Christmas Eve at the studio. We played a drawing game with charcoal.

John and the kids also played darts.

Christmas day dinner was at Kevin’s boss’s farm. Miniature goats are amazing!

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A few weeks ago I learned that when it gets cold in Florida, manatees move into the warm springs that feed the Crystal River. These springs are about five hours from Beaufort (and Atlanta) so it seemed like a perfect detour home.

We wound up driving about 8 hours from Birmingham to an Air BNB in Beverly Hills, FL.

I had a lot of time on that drive to rethink the plan. Eight hours is just a really, really long time to sit in a car! I was also concerned that we wouldn’t see many manatees.

The ride was worth it.

Since temperatures were in the upper 40s and lower 50s, hundreds of manatees were in the 72° springs.

Fortunately, the ride home is much shorter than the ride from Birmingham.

Penn State played Ole Miss at noon, so we stopped in Brunswick, GA so John could catch the game. We had been at Silver Bluff a little over a year ago, so this seemed like a great spot to hang for a while.

Here’s to ending 2023 with love and adventures.